Coloratura soprano - silver voice

We all know the touching and sad tale of the Snow Maiden, whose authors were AN Ostrovsky and NA Rimsky-Korsakov. The party of the tender girl, the daughter of Spring-Krasna and Moroz, according to the author's intention, is performed by the coloratura soprano. It was this timbre of voice, high and resembling a crystal bell, that was able to transmit both the ringing of the drop and the silver of ice, which is associated with the image of the Snow Maiden.

Coloratura soprano in the classification of singing voices takes the highest line. This is a voice that can sound in the uppermost register. In addition, this is the most mobile voice, which is why it is called coloratura. He is able to perform the most complex vocal decorations - coloratura.

It is interesting that different composers in different ways attracted the possibilities of this timbre. If composers of the 18th century paid attention to the virtuosity of sounding a voice, the coloratura soprano was used to show its closeness to the sound of a musical instrument in all its glory. An example is the evil sorceress Queen of the Night, whom V. Mozart took one of the main roles in the opera "The Magic Flute". A bright and complex party with virtuoso passages. Later, already in the 19th century, composers began to pay more attention to expressiveness, the psychology of singing. But still this timbre of a woman's voice is associated with fairytale heroines: Lyudmila in the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by M. Glinka, the Swan Princess in "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, the Shamahanskaya queen in his "Golden Cockerel".

In the west, a narrower specialization was formed. The coloratura soprano is divided into dramatic soprano and lyric. The part of Queen of the Night in the Mozart's "Magic Flute" is sung by the singer with dramatic characteristics of the voice, and the part of Zerbinetta in the Ariadne on Naxos by Richard Strauss is performed by the lyrical and coloratura soprano. In the Russian practice, such fragmentation, as a rule, is not taken into account.

Singers with lyrical soprano perform Natasha Rostova's roles in War and Peace by S.Prokofiev or Tatiana in the opera Eugene Onegin by P.Tchaikovsky. It is a voice with a warm timbre, lyrical and soft.

Another variety - dramatic soprano, as can be seen from the very name, is a bright and strong singing voice. Such a timbre is given to parties of heroines with a complex character who are fighting for their own happiness and often perish for it. Natasha from the opera A. Dargomyzhsky "Mermaid" or Liza from the "Queen of Spades" P. Tchaikovsky - it's these heroines.

There are voices that can combine different qualities of soprano, then they are able to different parties and images. Such a unique lyric-coloratura soprano was, for example, the great Russian singer Antonina Nezhdanova.

Of course, for the right of the first soprano of the world, Italian singers, singing bel canto, always fought, first of all. Once upon a time, Maria Callas was the first. Today the throne is free. Although the Russian singer Anna Netrebko, who is happy to see on any stage, confidently presses Western opera divas, while simultaneously serving as the Mariinsky Theater.